


In Sickness And In Health

by EHyde



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Everybody Lives, F/M, Fix-It, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-27
Updated: 2017-03-27
Packaged: 2018-10-11 21:16:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10474602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EHyde/pseuds/EHyde
Summary: Desperate to find a cure for Kaya, Zeno takes her to the one place he thought he'd never return--Hiryuu Castle, where she can be treated by the royal doctor. But people at the castle still remember the rumors about Lord Ouryuu, and taking Kaya there will mean revealing truths about himself he never expected her to learn.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This fic assumes that events in my fic "A Distant Sunrise" have happened, but it should make sense even if you haven't read that. The main thing to know is that Yakshi already learned the truth about Zeno. Also, an oc from that fic makes a cameo appearance.

_ Ka-thunk ka-thunk ka-thunk.  _ Kaya woke to a sudden jolt, like falling out of a dream, but the movement didn't stop after she was awake.  _ An earthquake? _ Then she realized she wasn't in her bed. Wasn't in her house. “Zeno!” 

“Kaya, I'm here.” Her husband—for all of a week now—reached for her hand. “Everything's all right. Everything's going to be all right.”

“Zeno, where—?” She sat up, letting Zeno rest a hand behind her shoulders to support her as she looked around. The close wooden walls and low cloth ceiling, the movement—they were in a wagon.

“A nice man let us hitch a ride! Kaya, I'm taking you to a doctor.”

Now Kaya remembered. Last night she'd had one of her worst episodes yet, coughing up blood and shivering from the cold that wouldn’t go away no matter how many blankets Zeno piled on top of her. He had lain by her side until long after the shivering passed, covering her with his own warmth, and still they hadn’t been sure if she would make it through the night. 

“…what? But the doctor in the village—” Sometimes, they were able to buy medicine that helped ease Kaya’s coughing a little bit. Mostly, it just eased the pain. Kaya had long ago accepted that was all any doctor could do. 

“Not the village doctor. He’s good, but he doesn’t have the training. Kaya, I’m taking you to the king’s doctor at the castle!” 

For a moment Zeno looked so bright and full of hope that Kaya, too, felt herself wonder if maybe there was a chance. But no. “Zeno,” she said. “You stayed with me, you even asked me to marry you! You did so much, but you can’t—there’s nothing—even if it’s the best doctor in the kingdom, Zeno—” He knew that, didn’t he? Even though he said he wanted her forever, even though he never, ever admitted how little time she had left—

“We can't be sure until we try, Kaya!” … _ oh _ . That desperation visible just under the surface—he knew. Kaya had been there as first her mother, then her father, and finally her little brother had fallen to the sickness. She remembered what it felt like to try anything and everything, knowing in her heart it wouldn’t make a difference yet still hoping. In the months before Zeno had come to her, Kaya had occasionally gone to the village on her own for medicine and supplies. To her face, people would marvel that she could still be so hopeful in the wake of everything. She’d wanted to laugh. Going about her life as if she could have what she’d had before, trying to live like her sickness wasn’t there, was that hope? Of course she didn’t want to die. But with Zeno, she’d finally found something akin to real hope again—and she knew it was just as fruitless as before.

She took a deep breath. Not an easy task. “Zeno, let’s go home,” she said. “Traveling will only make things worse. At home it’ll—it’ll be peaceful.” Zeno drew back. He knew, but he wouldn’t admit it. “Besides, there’s no way we can afford to see that kind of doctor.”

“I told you how I used to be a priest, right?” Kaya nodded. Zeno rarely talked about the time before they met, but he’d said that much. She could tell he’d been alone for a long time, so she thought he must have taken care of a shrine in the wilderness. “I was a priest at the castle’s temple,” Zeno said. “So if I ask, the doctor at the castle will treat you.” 

_ At the castle? _ The image of Zeno at Hiryuu Castle was so impossible that if the conversation were less serious, Kaya would have laughed. Though she supposed even the castle temple had to have novices and attendants. “Even if you worked there, the king's doctor…did you know him?”

Zeno looked away. “Probably not, not by this time,” he admitted. “Kaya, don't ask me how I can be sure he'll see you. I am.”

“…alright.” It seemed to Kaya like a foolish endeavor, but at the same time, she didn’t want to see Zeno give up. Maybe accept, but not give up. She remembered what Zeno was like when he’d given up. “As long as you stay with me, right, Zeno?”

“Always, Kaya.” He smiled. “You should rest. We’ll be there soon.” He gently helped her lie back down with a kiss on the forehead, and the rolling and rocking of the wagon, no longer alarming now that Kaya knew its source, quickly sent her off to sleep.

* * *

“Kaya, we’re here!” Zeno helped Kaya climb out of the wagon. Even outside the city gates, she could see more people than she’d ever seen in her village in one day. “Thanks, mister!” Zeno waved cheerfully at the wagon driver. That man had to know she was sick, Kaya realized, and he’d given them a ride anyway. She found herself wishing she had something to give him in return. Instead, she bowed, and then took Zeno’s hand.

“Where are we going? We can’t go straight to the castle, can we?”

“Well, we don’t have anywhere else to go!” He began walking toward the city gate, but Kaya paused, her hand dropping from Zeno’s grasp. “Kaya, what’s wrong?”

“It’s—” She abruptly realized that she hadn’t seen a soul besides Zeno in months. It used to be that on her better days she would venture into the village herself to trade for medicine, but Zeno had started doing that for her, so there was no need. And now, in a city like this, there might be more people than Kaya had ever seen in her life. Their scattered voices began to press against her like a hostile roar. “Is it alright?” she asked. “I don’t want anyone here to get sick.” That wasn’t it, although it was true as well. But Zeno noticed her eyes flickering through the crowd and seemed to understand. He took off his cloak and draped it over her shoulders, pulling the hood down over her face, blocking out all but the view directly in front of her.

“It’s alright,” he said. “We won’t be around any one person for very long, so it’s safe. You don’t have to talk to anyone if you don’t want to.”

Kaya breathed in a few times, calming herself, and nodded. Zeno was with her. She would be fine. She reached for Zeno’s hand again and followed him into the city. By the time they were in the thick of the crowded town, Kaya had begun to peek at the people and shops they passed by. Maybe, in a different life, it would have been a fun place to visit. “It's so big!”

“It used to be smaller than your village back home,” Zeno said. “The town grew up around the castle.” They still couldn't see the castle, but soon the town thinned out again. Kaya thought she knew what to expect. Even the mayor of her small village had a mansion—it would be something like that, but even more grand, right? But the houses in this part of town put that mansion to shame, and the castle, when it came into view high above them, looked like something that belonged in a fairy tale, or in heaven. With its dark wood painted here and there with gold, scarlet banners flying over every wall, and its roof bright crimson against the blue sky, the castle seemed like an eternal flame atop its hill. Well, Hiryuu had been a god of fire, after all. Kaya gasped at the sight.

So did Zeno—but this sight shouldn't be a surprise to him. “What's wrong?”

“Ah, nothing! The roof wasn't red, last time I was here.” The road began to slope upwards, and Kaya slowed her pace. “Will you be able to make it?”

“I can make it,” Kaya insisted, only to be proven wrong by another round of coughing.

“Here, lean on my shoulder.”

A merchant's cart pulled up beside them. Two people seated at the front peered down at them. “Are you kids going up to the castle?” the passenger, a woman wearing finer clothes than Kaya had ever touched, asked. Zeno nodded. “Hop on the back, we'll give you a lift.” Kaya was about to protest that no, they couldn't possibly impose, but Zeno agreed with a cheerful thank you. “People come from all over the kingdom just for a glimpse of Hiryuu Castle,” the merchant commented to her driver.

“Ah—” Another startled breath from Zeno.

“Zeno?”

“They're calling it Hiryuu Castle now. Zeno didn’t know that!”

“Silly Zeno, even I knew that the castle was named after the dragon king!”

The carriage came to a stop at the castle’s gate. Soldiers were stationed there, but to Kaya they looked friendly, not scary. Zeno hopped off, then helped Kaya down. The merchant spoke a few words to the soldiers, who waved her through the gate. “What do you think she’s doing here?” Kaya asked. The carriage hadn’t continued straight up to the front of the castle—not really possible, since there were steps—but on a road that kept to the edge of the enclosure, heading towards the back.

“Probably delivering fabrics or dresses to the court ladies,” Zeno guessed. 

“How are we going to get inside?” While the soldiers didn’t look mean, it was clearly their job to keep people out. Even if Zeno knew some people in the temple, they weren’t here to vouch for him right now.

“It’s no problem! Wait here a minute.” He stepped over to the soldiers. Kaya couldn't hear what he said, but she could see him holding up his necklace to show them. That necklace was really special to Zeno—had it been a gift from somebody important? Then the soldiers bowed to Zeno.  _ What—? _ But Zeno held up his hands in protest, and they stood back up. Curiously, Kaya stepped up to Zeno’s side. “This nice soldier is going to escort us into the castle!” Zeno beamed.

“Ah, yes? Was—was that everything?” But Zeno only grinned at her. 

“Right!” said the soldier in question. “My lo—I mean, sir, please follow me.” The steps leading up to the castle had a dragon on them, too, painted in red and gold, but otherwise the same as the dragon on Zeno’s necklace. Just what did that soldier think Zeno's necklace meant?

Inside the castle, a man in even nicer clothes than the merchant's approached them. This couldn't be the king, could it? He was probably in his forties or fifties, and wasn't the king a lot older than that? When he looked at Zeno, his eyes widened and he dropped the scrolls he was carrying, but before he could say anything, Zeno rushed over to help pick them up. “You mistook me for somebody important, right?” he asked. “Zeno’s just a traveler, so there's no need to announce me!”

“…of course,” said the man. “But you’re—you really haven’t—”

“Haven’t what?” Zeno asked. Kaya wanted to ask that, too. 

“…ah, nothing,” said the man. He paused, like he was waiting for Zeno to say something more, then finally continued. “In that case, sir, what business does a traveler have at Hiryuu Castle?”

“Well, I guess I need to talk to the king,” said Zeno, like it was a simple matter. He paused. “His Majesty Yakshi is still king, right?” At the other man’s nod, Zeno continued. “But first, Kaya needs a place to rest. She's worn out from our trip and she's sick, so she shouldn't be around other people very much.”

“Zeno!” Kaya protested. She rushed to his side and bowed to the man in the fancy clothing. “Even if you used to work in the temple, asking to talk to the king is too much! I’m sorry, sir,” she said to the man. “We’ve been living alone for a while so I’m sure my husband didn’t mean to be so impolite! I know there’s no way that I can stay here in the castle while I’m sick, so we'll be leaving now.” She took Zeno’s hand and tried to pull him away and catch her breath at the same time—she still hadn’t quite recovered from their walk through town and up the castle steps. But she'd been right to have an uneasy feeling about coming here. If Zeno got in trouble on her account—

“Kaya, it's fine, I promise.”

She—she shouldn't have exerted herself. They couldn't stay in the castle, but Kaya needed to lie down, or else—her vision started to turn cloudy. “Zeno, hold me,” she said, not romantic but a strict necessity as she fell into his arms.

* * *

Kaya’s first sensation was of floating. Was she in heaven? Then she came to a little more and realized that she was just lying on a really soft mattress. Where—? Was she still in the castle? She blinked a few times and the room finally came into focus. If it wasn’t the castle, it certainly was as nice as one. Zeno was beside her, kneeling by the side of the bed—a real bed!—with his head resting on his hands beside her. He’d needed rest too, it seemed. “…Zeno?”

“Kaya, you’re awake!” He lifted his head and a smile lit up his face. “Are you feeling better? You were asleep for almost a full day!”

_ A whole day… _ “I feel all right,” she said. Groggy, if anything, and a little dizzy, but she wasn’t in pain. “Zeno, where are we? You didn’t really ask that man to let me stay in the castle, did you?” 

“We’re in the castle. Really, Kaya, it’s all right. When you passed out, they called for the doctor right away so I didn’t even have to talk to the king!” He looked relieved at that. Kaya must have been right: whatever position Zeno had once held here, talking to the king was too much. “Speaking of which, I should go tell the doctor you’re awake!” He stood up and only then did Kaya notice that Zeno wasn’t wearing his normal tunic anymore, but a long robe, double layered, made of golden silk almost as bright as his hair. “Oh—” He noticed Kaya looking at his clothing and laughed. “The doctor said our clothing was full of disease and had to be burned. They insisted on giving me this silly thing.” Kaya lifted the sheet on the bed—sure enough, she’d been dressed in new clothing, too. Her shift was plain, nothing like Zeno’s fancy robes, but it was as soft as the bedsheets. Kaya felt a little sad at the loss of her old kimono, which had been her only article of clothing for years, but if burning it would keep her sickness from spreading, then so be it. “Some maids might be in and out,” Zeno warned her. “The doctor said to air out the room as often as possible to keep the sickness from building up.”

“It’s really a miracle you never got sick, isn’t it?” Kaya asked. “We never did any of that stuff!”

“Hehe, must be!” And then Zeno was gone. Kaya wasn’t feeling well enough to try and sit up, but she took the opportunity to look around the room a little more. It was bigger than her entire house. Would all these fine linens, this soft mattress, have to be burned once she was gone? 

Kaya was still trying to convince herself it wasn’t a dream when two maids came into the room. They chatted with each other as if Kaya wasn’t there, which she supposed made sense. If they’d come in before, Kaya had been asleep. “Did you hear?” one asked the other as she opened a window. Kaya shivered from the sudden breeze, though it looked like a warm spring day outside. “They’re saying Ouryuu came back to the castle! Imagine that, a dragon warrior at Hiryuu Castle in this day and age!”

“I’d like to see him,” said the other. “Isn’t Ouryuu the one who they said…” But they left the room, and Kaya wasn’t able to hear the rest of their conversation. A dragon in Hiryuu Castle…and then here  _ she _ was. She and Zeno, they definitely wouldn’t be able to stay for long.

* * *

“Oh, she fell asleep again.”

“I’m not asleep!” But the window was shut again and the room was darker; she must have drifted off to sleep for at least a little while. 

“Rest is good, my lady,” said the man at Zeno’s side. In his fifties or sixties, with hair more salt than pepper and a friendly look to his eyes, this must be the king's doctor. 

“I’m not your lady,” Kaya protested as she sat up in bed. “Just Kaya, please!” She looked back at Zeno, dressed in those fancy robes, somehow looking like he belonged here. “I don’t know why you’re treating me, I don’t have any way to pay you and I—” She sniffed. Oh no, was she starting to cry? But Zeno rushed to her side and wrapped her in his arms. 

“Shh, Kaya, Kaya, it’s all right. You don't need to worry about that, I promise.”

“But I really can't stay in the castle! What if the king gets sick, or his family, or the people who work here? It would be my fault!”

“Hmph.” The doctor scoffed. “I know enough about the spread of disease to prevent  _ that, _ Miss Kaya.”

“Is it…it's really not a problem?”

“It's not,” Zeno insisted. “And I'll stay by your side, I won't let anyone tell you you shouldn't be here.”

“He barely left your side this past day,” the doctor added.

“Zeno, don't forget to take care of yourself too!”

“Zeno’s fine, Zeno’s fine!” The doctor looked startled at Zeno’s childish talk, and Zeno quickly put on a serious face. “Doctor Chen needs to examine you, and then he has medicine for you. After that we’ll eat!”

The doctor in Kaya’s village had never examined her, and the medicines he gave her weren’t anything like the warm, bitter liquid that Doctor Chen helped her drink. For a moment, she thought that maybe Zeno was right. Maybe it really was only a matter of seeing a better doctor. But after his examination, Chen shook his head and frowned. “Miss Kaya, I will do my best,” he said. “But you know this kind of disease…”

“…yeah, I know,” said Kaya.

“I have not given up  _ yet _ ,” said the doctor sharply. “Take this medicine for a week. Then we shall see.” Kaya nodded. “Rest as much as you are able, but should you feel strong enough to move about, you need not confine yourself to this room. Just stay with…with your husband—” he looked uncomfortable at that word; had Zeno told him they weren’t properly married? “—and do not touch anyone.” With a firm nod, he began packing his tools and medicines back in his bag, getting ready to leave.

“Gotcha,” said Zeno. “Kaya, when you’re feeling better, I can show you some of the gardens! They’re very pretty, really different than the wildflowers at home!”

Kaya smiled, and wondered if Zeno really felt as hopeful as he sounded. But she really did feel a little better. However hopeless her treatment might be, the doctor’s words had convinced her that her welcome, at least, was real. “That sounds nice,” she said. “I never thought I'd see a castle in my life, so we should take this chance and see as much as we can. Oh!” She remembered the overheard conversation from earlier. “I heard the maids talking. They said that a dragon warrior returned to the castle! Think of that, Zeno, we could see a dragon!”

Doctor Chen stopped in his tracks and turned back. He looked startled—was this news to him, too? After a few seconds of silence, Zeno let out a short laugh. “I guess it’s time to come clean,” he said. “That’s me.”

“…eh?”

“Ouryuu,” Zeno said. “That’s me.” The doctor stepped out of the room. “It’s not like I was ever a warrior, though.” 

Kaya was quiet as she tried to make sense of this. Everyone they’d met had treated Zeno like he was someone important. He’d told her he was a priest at the temple; it was only Kaya who’d assumed he’d had some unimportant job. “There are probably some questions you want to ask, Kaya, so—” Zeno seemed to be bracing himself.

Kaya tried to remember what she could of the story. Everyone knew that Kouka Kingdom was founded by the crimson dragon god who became human, and protected by the four dragon warriors. The dragons had left after Hiryuu died, which…it was well before Kaya was born. Hadn’t there been celebrations for the fiftieth year of Yakshi’s reign when Kaya was a child? Zeno was only seventeen, so— “Oh, I see,” she said. “So was it your grandfather—no, great-grandfather?—who served King Hiryuu?” she guessed. “And that's what makes you Ouryuu?”

Zeno’s eyes widened. “Ah, that’s—I mean—it doesn't really matter, so—” 

It must have been very strange, for someone like Zeno to have that kind of legacy. Was that why he left? Zeno had always been quiet about his past, but it was obvious from when Kaya first met him that there was pain there. “You're right,” she said. “It's nice to know why everyone's acting like you're important, but I don't need to know details. You can tell me more if you want, but you're the one who matters to me, not someone who lived long ago.”

Without warning, Zeno hugged her. Had he really worried she’d see him differently? Though Kaya did find herself wishing he’d feel comfortable enough to tell her more someday. A dragon warrior, that was really something! Even if Zeno himself was nothing like the image of a warrior—well, she supposed that was where his yellow hair came from. A thought occurred to her, and she giggled.

“What?” Zeno asked.

“Those maids are going to be disappointed!” Then she covered her mouth. “Um. I mean—not that you’re a disappointment, Zeno, you’re perfect, but—”

“Haha, I understand!”

“Speaking of those maids, Zeno, they knew you were here, even if they didn't recognize you. If you wanted it to be a secret,maybe it’s better if you just take care of me. Like you always did at home.” She didn’t say it, but she’d feel better with Zeno watching over her than with people she didn’t know, too.

Zeno looked away. “Kaya, there’s still—” He broke off, then looked back at her, smiling. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s a good idea. Just Zeno and Kaya.”

“And then, after Doctor Chen’s one week, let’s go home.”

* * *

For two days, Kaya saw no one but Zeno and Doctor Chen. By the second day, she was feeling well enough to sit up most of the day, and on the third day, she was ready to get up and walk around. Privately, she credited this to the palace food as much as to the doctor’s medicine—it was delicious, and included a lot more meat than they were usually able to eat at home. 

To celebrate being out of bed, Kaya put on the new clothing that had been brought for her. A pink kimono painted with purple flowers, it was as nice as Zeno’s yellow robes, and she kept stealing glances at herself in the little mirror by her bed. It almost made her look like the lady that Doctor Chen wanted to treat her as.

“Do you want to go outside?” Zeno asked.

If she was wearing this, she wouldn’t feel nearly so out of place walking around the castle. “Yes, and let’s bring that book, okay?” Zeno had been reading to her to pass the time, a book of poetry he’d fetched from the castle library.

“I read all of that one, so let's stop by the library for a new one!” But after they left the library and were walking through the castle’s central courtyard, Kaya began to notice something strange.

“Zeno, I think those people are following us!” she whispered.

Zeno nodded. “I guess people are still curious,” he said. 

“How rude! Is this why you mostly stayed with me even when I told you to go enjoy yourself?” Zeno nodded. “If you want to go back…”

He looked like he was seriously considering it, but then shook his head. “No,” he insisted. “I want you to enjoy today.” Kaya glanced back, and the trio of courtiers whispering behind them had the grace to at least realize they’d been spotted and back off. She half wished she could hear their whispers. Zeno’s past was his own, of course, but just what about him was so interesting and startling to the people here in the castle?

The weather was even more glorious than Kaya had guessed from inside her room. “You know, Zeno, I wasn’t sure I’d see spring flowers again,” she confessed. She didn’t recognize all the flowers that grew in this garden, bigger and brighter than anything that grew wild near her house, but they brought out the same feeling. The scents were almost overwhelming and she just wanted to sit and take everything in for a while.

“You’ll see this year’s flowers and many more,” Zeno said.

“Don’t promise that, not yet.” Then Kaya looked away. “Ah, I didn’t mean to sound so gloomy. I hope I see a lot more, too.”

Kaya felt almost like a court lady herself as her husband read her poetry under the warm sun. Then a breeze brushed against her cheek and she began coughing again, reminded of why she was really here. “Do you want to go back?” Zeno asked.

“Not yet,” Kaya said. “A cup of tea would be nice, though,” she admitted. 

“I'll go fetch one, wait right here!” He stood up and raced back inside.

After a moment of waiting alone, Kaya heard someone clear their throat behind her. “Hello?” she called. 

A young man with light brown hair and a bright red tunic stepped into view. He was one of the three who had been following them earlier, and now that Kaya had a better look at him, she realized he was probably even younger than she was. “Um, Lady Kaya?” the boy began. “Is it—is it true you’re Lord Ouryuu’s wife?”

Was  _ that _ what they were gossipping about? “Well, we never got officially married,” she admitted. “But Zeno asked me to marry him and since then we’ve been living as husband and wife.” 

“Oh! Well I’m sure if Kouka’s first priest says you’re married, it’s as good as done,” said the boy. “Um, I’m sorry if I scared you earlier, Lady Kaya!”

“You didn’t scare me!” said Kaya. He’d been rude, but not scary. But she couldn’t scold someone who lived in the castle, he was probably way too important, even if he was younger than her. Kaya hadn’t seen a lot of servants, but she was pretty sure this boy wasn’t dressed like one. “Um,  _ first _ priest?”

“ _ You _ know,” said the boy. “When my great-grandfather died and the other dragon warriors left the castle, Ouryuu Zeno stayed behind as the castle’s priest.”

“Great-grandfather—” Kaya’s mouth fell open in shock. “You mean King Hiryuu? You’re descended from the dragon god?”

“Me and almost two dozen others, it’s not that impressive.” He paused, and Kaya would have argued that point—she was still plenty impressed—if it weren’t for his next statement. “Not like marrying one of the dragon warriors who actually served him.”

“But that wasn’t—that was a long time ago, it wasn’t  _ Zeno _ .”

“Oh.” The boy looked disappointed. “So he just has the same name, then.”

“Um,” said Kaya, “you can’t have really thought my husband was the same one who served King Hiryuu. He’d be an old man!”

“N-no, of course not! That would be ridiculous!” Kaya thought he protested a little too much. But it  _ was _ a ridiculous idea. Zeno was the same age as she was. “Only,” the boy went on, “The old men, they say that Ouryuu never grew old no matter how long he lived at the castle. Grandfather wouldn’t ever tell me if that was true or not, which I thought meant maybe it was…”

“And you couldn't ask my husband yourself?”

“It seems like he's been avoiding everyone.”

That might well be true, but it wasn't what Kaya meant. “I meant before he left the castle,” she said. “When he was a priest.”

“But this is the first time—” The boy’s eyes narrowed. “So he  _ is _ —oh! Gotta go!” He turned and darted away. 

“Kaya, that kid wasn't bothering you, was he?” Zeno asked, approaching from behind with two cups of tea in hand.

Kaya laughed. So that was why the boy ran off. So much for Zeno being the one avoiding people! “Nah, he wasn’t bothering me. He had a big imagination, though!”

“Oh?” But Kaya just shook her head. Zeno was already bothered enough by people following him around, he didn't need to hear that boy’s silly idea.

“Hey, Zeno, he’s King Hiryuu’s great-grandson,” said Kaya. “I met a prince!”

The teacups fell from Zeno’s hands. “Great-grandson…” he repeated.

“Zeno, are you—what’s wrong, Zeno?”

“Nothing, nothing!” But his reassurance was obviously transparent. Kaya reached for the cups—she was already sitting on the ground, easier for her to reach them—and then took Zeno’s hand that he reached down to her. 

“Zeno, let’s go back,” she said.

She watched Zeno as they walked through gardens and courtyards until they came back to her room. It couldn’t be true, could it? No one could live that long. No one could live that long and still look seventeen. Except…maybe someone who’d been given the power of a dragon could. And little things, little comments—everything made more sense if she assumed that the impossible thing was true. “Zeno,” she said, when they were back inside, the two misplaced teacups—unbroken; the ground had been soft—in a wobbly stack on a table. “What was Ouryuu’s power?”

Zeno looked away. “…one was given a strong body that couldn’t be injured,” he said, finally.

“…or get sick?”

“…or get sick.” He looked back and met her gaze, then his eyes flickered away again. “Or grow old.” The day Kaya had first found Zeno, there had been blood on his clothes. Blood on his clothes, but no wounds on his body.  _ I want to die, _ he’d said that day. She gasped. “I’m sorry, Kaya, I didn’t want you to find out this way. Did that kid tell you?”

“He asked me,” said Kaya. “And I told him no, that was a silly idea. But—”

“But it’s true,” said Zeno. “I’m the original Ouryuu. The only one.” 

For a moment, Kaya wasn’t sure how to react to that confirmation. Zeno wasn’t the boy she knew, he was—he’d have to be at least a hundred years old! But—but he was still  _ Zeno.  _ She hugged him. 

“You—you’re not mad at me for not telling you?” He sounded like he couldn’t believe it.

“I…I think I understand why you didn’t. It didn’t matter, right? It’s not like I was going to grow old and notice that you stayed young.”

Zeno breathed in sharply. “That’s not—Kaya. When I asked you to marry me, I wanted to share everything with you. Keeping things back because they wouldn't matter—please don’t think I thought like that! You matter so, so much to me, Kaya, and I wanted to tell you everything, and I—I was scared.” Kaya didn’t speak, just kept holding him close. “I should have told you before we came here. It was stupid to think that no one would remember, or talk. I kept thinking one thing at a time, and it was always something else first, and—”

“It’s all right, Zeno. You don’t have to keep explaining. We just have to move forward now, right?”

“Moving forward…is something I’ve never been very good at,” Zeno confessed.

Tears filled Kaya’s eyes. “From now on, we’ll do it together.” Now he was holding her more than she was holding him, and Kaya wasn't even sure why she was sobbing, except that Zeno was so clearly in pain. 

Her sobbing turned to coughing. Suddenly her throat was raw, she wasn’t getting enough air, and she remembered that spilled tea that had never reached her lips. “Kaya? Kaya!” Zeno was out the door in an instant, calling for someone to fetch the doctor, and then  everything passed in a blur. Zeno held her, she remembered that. Doctor Chen was there, pouring liquid down her throat, different liquid this time. 

“Has this happened before?” the doctor asked as Kaya shivered in Zeno’s arms.  _ Many times _ , Kaya wanted to say. Fits like this were common. 

“Never this bad,” said Zeno. “Her nerves—she had a shock—” But it wasn’t really that much worse than usual, was it? Kaya wanted to tell the doctor that, but she couldn’t gather the breath to speak. “Doctor, your medicine—”

“I’m sorry, Lord Ouryuu,” said Chen. “But there was never much hope. It’s the gods in heaven you should ask for Kaya’s life, not me.”

“Doctor! I—I already—”

* * *

Eventually, Kaya woke up. Doctor Chen was sitting by her bedside. “Doctor,” she began. “Where’s Zeno? I think I scared him…”

“You scared me, too,” said the doctor. “You’ll be all right now.”

“…that’s a lie, isn’t it?” Kaya asked. It might have been a while since Kaya spent time around very many people, but the look of pity on the doctor’s face was hard to miss. He didn’t answer, but his silence was answer enough. “We had a scare like this before Zeno brought me here,” Kaya said. “I didn’t think it was that bad.” But it must have been bad, she realized, to get Zeno to come back here. A place full of happy memories, turned sad by the fact that they were gone…that’s what it must be like for him. “Where’s Zeno?” She repeated her question.

“Lord Ouryuu is…he’s gone.”

Panic tore through Kaya’s heart. Had telling her the truth been too much for him, after all? No—the thought of losing her, watching her die, that must be—how many had he have lost already? 

“There’s one last hope,” said Chen. “A rare herb said to be nearly a miracle cure. The moment I mentioned it, Zeno swore he’d find it, but, Miss Kaya, I fear I spoke too soon. There’s very little writing on the proper use of senjuso, and finding it by himself…all I was able to tell him was that it grows on the northwest coast.”

“But he’ll come back.” Her breaths were slowing down, coming evenly again. “Right?”

“Lord Ouryuu swore he could travel as fast as Ryokuryuu if the need arose,” said Chen. “I have no doubt he’ll return to your side.” That was a lie, too, Kaya could plainly see, but if Zeno had said it, then she chose to believe it. She only had to wait a few more days.

* * *

“Miss Kaya, you have a visitor.”

Kaya’s first day without Zeno by her side was passing unbearably slowly. She could sit up, and she thought she’d be able to stand, but the doctor insisted that this time they play it safe. She’d been confined in bed all day. Chen was in and out, bringing her medicine, and had taken it upon himself to scour the library and his own master’s old books for any hint of how to treat Kaya if Zeno brought the precious medicine back. So he had no time to keep her company. The servants who came to tend her only offered wary glances, not conversation.

_ As long as you stay with me, right, Zeno? _

_ Always. _

She hadn’t known, then, what that  _ always _ could mean for Zeno. And yet, he was gone. She had so many questions she still wanted to ask him, so many things she wanted to just talk about! She wanted—she wanted to walk with him among the spring wildflowers at home, year after year. For the first time in years, Kaya realized, she wanted to stop accepting her disease as part of who she was. She wanted to be healthy and whole and she wanted to  _ live _ . For Zeno.

_ Hurry back soon, Zeno. I’ll be waiting. _

“Miss Kaya, shall I show him in?”

“Ah, yes, of course!” Who would come to see her? It couldn’t be Zeno back already; it hadn’t even been a full day since he left. 

An old man stepped into the room. His long silver hair in a simple ponytail, wearing plain black robes, he could have been anyone—but for the deep bow that Doctor Chen gave him. “Your Majesty,” said the doctor. “Ouryuu Zeno’s wife, Lady Kaya.”

“No way,” Kaya exclaimed. “The king came to see me?” Oops, had she said that out loud? “Um—Your Majesty, I'd bow, but I can't stand up.”

“That's quite all right, miss Kaya. I have days like that myself.” Kaya recalled what Doctor Chen had told her about the king—that while Yakshi was still king in name, most of the actual ruling was done by his eldest son. But from the sharp look in the old man's eyes, Kaya didn't think it was due to senility. “Chen, you may leave.” With a nod, the doctor stepped out of the room. “So,” said the king. “Ouryuu refused to see me, and now he’s run away again.”

Kaya gaped at him. The king had asked to see Zeno? And he’d refused? Her first instinct was to apologize for him, to say he didn’t know any better, but she knew now that wasn’t true. “He’ll come back,” she said, instead.

“Do you believe that?” the king asked.

“Yes.”

The king sighed. “Good,” he said. “I’m glad Ouryuu found someone to come back to.”

“Um, Your Majesty? I can ask him again to come see you, when he comes back, if you’d like.”

Smiling, the king shook his head. “I remember when I was a child in his arms,” he said. “He doesn’t need to see me like this. It was a selfish wish of mine, to correct mistakes made long ago.”

Kaya swallowed. Even now that she knew the truth about Zeno, it was impossible to think of him as anything other than young. That he’d been the same when this old man was a child—or even before he was born—it was just weird. She definitely needed to talk to Zeno more about that in particular so she could finish getting used to the idea. “Did you always know?” she asked.

“No. Perhaps it should have been obvious, but I only started guessing when people began to think we were the same age.” 

Kaya had thought  _ she _ and Zeno were the same age. “He said he had always wanted to tell me, but I’m not sure if that’s true,” Kaya admitted.

“Ah, well, perhaps he always wanted you to know, and was afraid of the telling.” The king leaned forward, peering intently into Kaya's eyes. “Another selfish request from an old man: please look after Ouryuu as long as you can.”

“That—”  _ That might not be very long. _ “That's not something you need to ask, Your Majesty.” 

The king nodded, and stood up. On his way back to the door, he paused by the table where Doctor Chen had left his bag, and smiled. “My mother wrote this,” he said, picking up the book of poetry Zeno had been reading to Kaya. “Both of them, in fact.”

“Both? Oh, I didn’t realize Zeno brought a second book. Is it more poetry?”

“History,” said the king. “An account of Hiryuu and his dragons. Shall I bring it over to you?”

“No, I—I can’t read it for myself, but—thank you.” And with that, the king replaced the books on the table, and left Kaya alone once again. 

History. Zeno must have brought that book here before he left; there had been only one there before. Kaya was certain of that. Was this his way of saying he’d tell her more? Since she’d been unconscious and he couldn’t wait for her to wake up, he left this instead?  _ Silly Zeno, you know I can’t read, _ Kaya thought with a smile. Ah, but right now, the contents didn’t matter—it wasn’t a book, it was a promise.

Zeno didn’t return the next day, but the boy that Kaya had met in the garden came and offered to read to her. His name was Jeong, Kaya learned, and he wasn’t really a prince, since his father was King Yakshi’s youngest son. Though to Kaya, the distinction seemed like it should hardly matter. Probably the king had told him to keep her company, but Kaya didn't mind—though it was a completely different experience than Zeno reading her poetry. She had to laugh. Jeong turned bright red whenever he was forced to read a love poem. “Great-grandmother wrote these,” he muttered. “It's weird.”

“Did you know her?” Kaya asked. “King Hiryuu's wife?”

“Not really, she died when I was pretty young.”

“Aw, I wondered what she was like. She wrote such beautiful poems.”

Jeong narrowed his eyes. “Can't you ask Lord Ouryuu?” 

Now it was Kaya's turn to flush pink. “Ah, right, I could…” Kaya had given in and told him that Zeno really was  _ that _ Lord Ouryuu, but she hadn’t admitted that she didn’t know that before.

“Anyway,” said Jeong, “can't I read the other book to you instead? It's way more exciting.”

Kaya shook her head. “I want to hear those stories from Zeno.”

By midday she had to ask the boy to leave. She felt as tired as at the end of a full day of work. All she wanted to do was go to sleep, and for some reason, the doctor kept insisting she keep her eyes open, stay awake, instead of his usual command to rest. He gave her what she first thought was yet another medicine but turned out to be only strong tea, and the look in his eyes, when she had finally regained enough alertness to recognize it— “I’m waiting for Zeno,” Kaya said. “I’ll be here when he comes back. I’ll be here!”

“Miss Kaya…”

She could feel the hot wet tears running down her face. “Doctor,” she said. “Can I please go to the temple?”

“The sick are always welcome in the temple of the gods,” said Chen. “I’ll carry you there.”

Kaya didn’t know how to pray in a temple. She barely knew how to pray at all. But as they entered the hall of stone, Kaya felt a little of her strength return, enough that she could keep to her feet while leaning on the doctor’s arm. A young boy in saffron robes offered to light incense for her and tell what words to say, but Kaya shook her head. “Just tell me where to pray to the yellow dragon god.”

“Lady, it’s custom that Hakuryuu hears prayers for strength.”

“Ouryuu,” Kaya repeated, and at that, the boy led her to the yellow dragon god’s shrine. “He’ll hear whatever I say?”

The novice nodded, and then as Kaya knelt before the shrine, he and Chen stepped back, giving her the privacy she needed. “Mr Dragon God, sir, I’m not trying to be selfish. And Zeno already asked you to heal me, right? So I know I shouldn’t…but you gave Zeno his power, right?” Kaya hardly even knew what Zeno’s power was. Immortality? He’d lived a long time, maybe even a hundred years. Was he going to live forever? “Please, I want to keep on living with Zeno! But if…if that can’t happen, just don’t take away everything he has. Send someone else to make him happy, or, or…” She swallowed. “Dragon God, at least let me say goodbye. Please!”

Another fit of coughing took her, the temple air thick with incense. No, this smoke-filled room wasn't the temple, but her own room at the palace. She couldn’t remember coming back here. Was her visit to the temple just a dream?

“Kaya!” Zeno stood before her and now she knew it was this that was the dream, for he shone like the sun, covered in glittering golden scales like he really was a dragon. “Kaya, hold on!”

“Ah, Dragon God heard my prayer,” Kaya whispered as she reached out to take Zeno’s hand. “Farewell, Zeno.”

“No! Kaya!” But even Zeno’s bright light dimmed before her eyes as Kaya faded into darkness.

* * *

“Ah…”

A little sigh escaped Kaya's lips as awareness crept back over her. She was in that warm, soft bed again. She was still here, and Zeno was here beside her, holding her hand. Kaya breathed a deep sigh of relief. 

As she sat up, Zeno didn't move. He seemed to be not looking at her but through her, holding so still it was almost scary. Kaya reached out, placing her other hand on his shoulder. “Zeno.”

He blinked. “K-kaya?” Suddenly his face came alive again, glowing with the warm happiness that Kaya knew so well. She grinned. There was her Zeno! “Kaya!” Zeno lunged forward, embracing her with so much force that they both toppled back on the bed together, laughing in their joy.

“What is going on—ah.” Relief washed over Doctor Chen’s face as he stepped into the room. “You’re awake. How do you feel?”

Kaya sat back up, only then realizing that it seemed to take no effort at all, and that her laughter hadn’t taken a thing out of her. “I feel good!” she exclaimed, eyes wide in surprise. “I’m sorry I scared you, Zeno,” she said. “Was I asleep a long time?”

“I…I lost track,” Zeno admitted, stepping down off the bed but never taking his eyes off of Kaya.

“Three days,” said the doctor. “Lord Ouryuu, you didn’t move or respond at all for three days. I thought I had acquired another patient.” But the wary glance he offered Zeno did not seem to be one of concern. Rather, Kaya thought she saw fear in his eyes. 

Zeno’s once-fine clothes, she now saw, were torn and stained with saltwater—saltwater and blood. “Zeno, you’re hurt!”

“No, no, Zeno’s fine! It turns out senjuso is hard to get, but since I had to hurry back, that worked out for me.”

“I dreamed you were covered in gold.”

“Not a dream. Kaya, I’ll explain that later, but—you’re well?”

“I can’t make any promises,” said Doctor Chen. “But Miss Kaya has shown remarkable progress. There’s hope.” Finally, he smiled. “There’s a lot of hope.”

“Maybe I just feel this good because I rested so much,” said Kaya. “But Zeno, I feel amazing, I feel better than I’ve felt in months.”

Over the next few days, Zeno kept his promise, filling Kaya’s ears with stories of Hiryuu Castle long ago. Only happy stories. Perhaps it was easiest to start with those. He never did explain the golden scales. Kaya wouldn’t press him for more—it would come in time. That wasn’t all they talked about; Zeno seemed eager to prove to Kaya that he was the same as he’d always been. They walked down to the town one afternoon. Most of it was just as new to Zeno as it was to Kaya, and they had fun running through the streets and the crowded market, laughing as they went. Zeno stopped to buy a flower to place in Kaya’s hair, but when the flower seller, a woman with a toddler by her side, gave them a knowing smile, Zeno froze. “Hm? Zeno, what’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing! Do you like it?”

“I love it!”

But Zeno seemed to lose his energy after that—Kaya still felt like she had more than she ever had in her life—and they returned to the castle as the sun was beginning to set. Over dinner, Zeno told her stories about King Yakshi when he was only a toddler himself. “I met the king, you know,” said Kaya. “He came to visit me while you were gone. It’s weird to think of you taking care of him when he was a baby.”

“But he was a really cute baby! Even Shuten had to admit it.”

“Hey, Zeno, you never told me what happened to the others. You all got power from the gods, right? I'd like to meet them someday!”

Zeno froze. Then his mouth moved, but no words came out, and Kaya knew. 

“Zeno, I'm sorry! I didn't realize—” She should have known; it should have been obvious. 

Zeno backed away from the table and Kaya reached out to him, but he turned and fled the room before she could reach him. “Zeno, wait!” When she stepped after him into the courtyard, he had already vanished from sight.

Should she chase after him? But Kaya had no idea where to look. She decided to wait. He'd come back, he had to! But the sky grew darker and darker until night had truly fallen, and Kaya was no longer so sure. And so, hardly knowing where to start, she stepped out into the courtyard on her own. First she went to the library, only because she knew how to get there. Zeno wasn’t there. He wasn’t in the garden they had gone to, either. She asked every servant she passed if they had seen Lord Ouryuu, to no avail. Finally, it occurred to her to go to the temple.

Kaya had to ask a servant to show her the way, and when she arrived, the temple was nearly empty. One lone figure knelt before Ouryuu’s shrine. “Zeno?” she called out. But the figure rose, and wasn’t him. An old woman, she wore the orange robes Kaya thought meant she was a priestess. “Sorry,” Kaya said. “I was looking for my husband.”

“Come here, child.” As Kaya stepped closer to the priestess, she could see she had a long scar running down one side of her face. “Ouryuu Zeno isn’t here. I just wanted to see the woman he married.”

“…Ma’am? Did you know Zeno?”

“I did. The gods sent me here long ago, when that was what he needed. Child—” she placed a hand on Kaya’s shoulder. “The heavens never sent you to Zeno’s side.”

“I—” What was the priestess saying? That Kaya didn’t belong with Zeno?

“You are not their apology to him. He wouldn’t accept that, you know.” She smiled. “You found each other on your own.”

“I can’t find him at all right now!”

The priestess smiled. “Go to him. He’s with his king.”

“Th-thank you, ma’am.” With a bow, Kaya left the temple. But where would the king be this late at night?

No. Not  _ the _ king.  _ His _ king. As she ran back into the castle’s courtyard, Kaya caught sight of Jeong. “Excuse me,” she said. “Can you please show me where King Hiryuu is buried?”

* * *

The cold room was dark and silent. Candles stood in fancy candleholders all around, but no one had lit them, and the only light came from the crack in the doorway that Jeong left open. “Zeno?” Kaya whispered, abruptly aware than if her husband  was not here, she'd be alone with a dead body. But Kaya had been alone with a dead body before. At least she wouldn't have to bury this one. “Zeno, are you here?”

One of the shadows moved. “Kaya.”

She ran across the cold stone floor to where he stood. “Zeno, you scared me! I thought you left—” She remembered why he had run away. “I'm sorry, Zeno, I should have known better.”

“No, Kaya, I—I’m not mad at you for that. I never told you, so—it made sense for you to think what you did.”

As Kaya’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw that Zeno stood before a great stone sarcophagus. King Hiryuu, the master he’d devoted his entire life to. The first one to leave him behind. Kaya put her hands together and bowed towards the entombed king, then turned back to face Zeno. “We can go slower,” she said. “You don’t need to tell me everything all at once! There’s stuff you still don’t know about my life before we met, after all, and I don’t have nearly so much.” Zeno finally gave her a little half-smile. “Zeno, if I’m really cured—and I know we don’t know that yet but it really seems possible—then we’ll have plenty of time.”

“…about that, Kaya, I've been thinking. You're healthy now, so it doesn't need to be just me and you anymore.”

Kaya wasn’t sure how that followed. “Um, yes? I had fun seeing everyone in the town. It'll be nice, not having to live alone anymore.”

“No.” Zeno shook his head. “I mean, you have a chance to find someone else.”

Kaya stepped back. “You don't…you don't want to stay with me?”

“I do want to, Kaya, I want to so much. But I can't offer you the kind of life you deserve, not now that you can actually live that life.”

“Zeno, you went to the edge of the world for me! No one else could have done that.”

“Because I'm a monster! Look, Kaya,” he commanded. He slammed his fist down on the sharp stone corner of King Hiryuu's sarcophagus with a sickening crunch. 

“Zeno!” she exclaimed in horror. Blood poured from his hand, but he opened his fist and flexed his fingers, forcing Kaya to see there was no wound at all. “Zeno, don't—”

“That was  _ nothing, _ Kaya! I've been stabbed with swords countless times. I've been trampled by horses, I've had my head cut off from my body. When I got the senjuso for you, I fell a thousand feet onto sharp rocks in the ocean.” Tears ran freely down Kaya's cheeks. “See, you can't even stand to think about someone like me, can you?”

“I can't stand to think about things so awful  _ happening _ to you!” Zeno's eyes widened. “Zeno, why are you trying to scare me away?”

“Because—because I want you to have the kind of life I can't give you. You could have a real family, Kaya, with someone who can grow old by your side, with children—”

“Zeno,  _ we _ could—”  _ Oh _ . His stories about Yakshi as a child, his reluctance to see the old man the king had become—Kaya couldn't possibly ask Zeno to go through that with children of his own. 

“…you see?”

Firmly, Kaya shook her head. “If you don’t want to watch me grow old and then lose me like you did your king and your brothers, I understand. We can say goodbye. But I’ll miss you for the rest of my life and I know I won’t ever find anyone I love as much as I love you. So if you’re really thinking about me then please, Zeno, please don’t leave me!”

Silence. Zeno stood before her, blinking his own tears back. Finally he spoke. “You really mean that.”

“Of course I really mean it!” She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest, still crying. Soon Zeno’s tears blended with her own.

“I…I didn’t watch my brothers grow old, Kaya,” Zeno confessed. “I was afraid, and I didn’t know how.”

“We’ll figure it out.”

“We won’t ever be able to have a normal life. If we go back to your village, we won’t be able to stay there for long. We won’t be able to stay anywhere for long.”

“I don’t have any family left there anyway, and it’ll be fun to travel around.”

“Eventually, people might start thinking I’m your son, or even your grandson.”

“We'll figure it out,” Kaya repeated. “We'll figure it out together.”

“Kaya, you’re amazing!”

They dried each other’s tears with their sleeves. Stained with Zeno’s fresh blood, their clothing would have to be laundered anyway. Then, tentatively, Kaya asked, “did you say what you needed to say? To King Hiryuu?”

“Not quite.” Zeno turned around and knelt before the stone sarcophagus. Unsure what to do, Kaya knelt too, and Zeno took her hand. “My king, I want you to meet Kaya.” His other hand gripped his necklace tight as he spoke. “I don't deserve someone so wonderful, but she's going to stick around anyway, did you hear that? I wish you could meet her for real, my king. I think you'd like her a lot.”

* * *

They considered leaving the castle right away. Whether Kaya was cured or not was no longer up to Doctor Chen; she still took daily doses of his senjuso prescription, but had she wanted, she could have simply taken that medicine with her when they left. But the doctor wanted to observe her progress and put her cure into writing, so Kaya agreed to stay. Senjuso might be hard to come by, but if the knowledge had even a chance of helping others, Kaya was happy to help Doctor Chen learn all he could.

During their remaining time at the castle, Kaya and Zeno mostly kept to themselves, or went down to the town where no one knew who Zeno was. More and more, Kaya recognized the whispers that followed Zeno around. A few, like Jeong, found the dragon warrior fascinating, but most were nervous. Chen’s account of Zeno’s motionless vigil by Kaya's side had spread, but neither Kaya nor Zeno could find it in themselves to resent his storytelling, not after what he'd done for them.

The castle was still beautiful and awe-inspiring, but with the unease that now followed them both, Kaya found herself almost as eager as Zeno to leave. “Awa?”

“Yep!” They were sitting side by side in the castle library, looking over a map of the kingdom. Zeno was teaching Kaya to read.

“And that’s where you found the senjuso?” Zeno nodded. “Let’s not go there,” Kaya said. “Maybe someday, but not now. You went as far west as you could go, so when we leave, let’s go east.” Maybe Zeno had been everywhere already. Maybe eventually, Kaya would see all of Kouka, too. 

After two weeks, Doctor Chen pronounced Kaya free of sickness. “Well then,” asked Zeno. “Shall we go?”

Kaya hesitated. Zeno’s tone was too light, too happy, and she’d begun to recognize that for what it really meant. “Zeno, are you sure you don’t want to see your old friends before we go? The king and the priestess?”

Zeno looked down. “I want to see them,” he said. “I want to see them so much, Kaya. But…”

“They both know the truth about you already.” But maybe that didn’t make it easier. “Zeno, all the places we talked about seeing…we’re not coming back here.”

“I…yeah.” Zeno took a deep breath, and nodded. “Alright, Kaya. I won’t make that mistake again.”

Zeno made those visits alone, and had tears in his eyes when he returned to Kaya, but there was joy mixed in with that sadness. “They grew up, Kaya. They grew old but they also grew up!”

Someday, Kaya knew, that would be her. Only—Zeno would see her whole life, her whole story, first hand. “Hey, Zeno,” Kaya began. “Let’s get married. I mean, we already got married, but everything’s changed since then. I still can’t promise you forever, but let’s do it properly this time. Would you do that, Zeno? Will you marry me again?”

Zeno smiled, as bright as the sun. “I will.”

**Author's Note:**

> If Kaya had tuberculosis, there wasn't really a way to cure it historically. Thank goodness the world of Akatsuki no Yona already has a powerful made-up healing herb with unspecified abilities, right?
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
